This month Hunter will take the helm and lead us into the world of William Blacker, one of the earliest of the Masters! His flies were not unlike little bits of jewels, this coming from his customers. Equally talented in the dying of Salmon Fly materials, where his colors were fast and did not bleach out in the peaty, acid waters of Ireland and Scotland, which spread into the fabled waters of England. They say his dye was neutralized with male Donkey urine. The birth of brilliance and the use of many of the beautiful plumages throughout the world was due in part to the influence Britain had around the world, where species were shipped back to the fly houses and shops and utilized by seasoned fly dressers. His fly tying was ahead of its time and his sons became fine dressers in their own right,

 

Hunter has put together a few pages of information about Blacker and his methods used to tie “in Hand”, and encourages those willing to try it without the aid of a vice! If you recall Piero Sistino had come here as our guest to tie in hand, and put on a very good program for the Guild. Hunter will explain the methods and special techniques required to tie this style of winging, something I have no experience in, so I will be learning with you.

 

I hope you all enjoyed the Winter Newsletter also put together by Hunter, if you have any helpful tips, ideas or techniques you think the Guild would benefit from, please forward those to Hunter so he can stockpile them for future use. Also consider adding a few flies to the Guilds Archive to showcase your tying and advancement from our meetings.

 

Please contact Dareld Thompson for any of our Library needs you would like to check out, contact him directly to have those items at the meeting, where you can have them for one month. We also have thumb drives of our guest tiers, available for checkout as well. A complete list is available for you.

 

If you have any desire for custom tools, vice upgrades and solid bases for your tying room, Joe Kristof is the man to contact. Wing setters, weighted bobbins and other cool tools are made in house by Joe. Very well made stuff!

 

John McLain has now settled into his new home in New York, and I encourage you to check out his vast materials and custom dyed feathers and more. Your dealing with top shelf stuff, hard to find plumage, furs and more. Check out his website at feathers mc.com thanks John.

 

If there is any desire from the group to play around with wax, let me know, sometimes its just too hard or soft, doesn’t hold well, it’s time to tweak it. I play around with wax all the time to get exactly what I want. Everything is available online, bees wax, rosin, oils, and it’s pretty easy to do. I usually just melt a wax that isn’t doing what I want, add rosin, to create tackiness , or wax for pliability, and oil for softness. I melt the components in a small aluminum candle holder over a flame until melted then it’s poured into a small lid covered with aluminum foil with a little oil to help get it out when hard. I don’t do big batches. But if isn’t your game, there are plenty of ready made waxes available today, a quick search and your all set. Just a thought. 

 

If you have not signed up for the Albany Fly Expo, which is held on March 6th and 7th it’s not too late. The Guild always puts on a great showing down there and this year should be no different, be there! As always Todd and Linda Yorke put on their food extravaganza in Salem which is amazing, resident Chef and lifetime member Steve Morton will be cooking for us again this year, not to be missed! Come find me when I’m tying for directions and can chat about the dinner.

 

Beverages will be available, coffee will be on and look forward to seeing you all on Saturday the 21st.